Boston, Massachusetts and Set Sail

Today we did a trolley tour of Boston and then boarded the ship.

Trolley Tour

With our Boston Go Pass we got tickets for the trolley tour of the city. We redeemed our tickets yesterday so that we can use them today (the trolley tickets were good for two days but the Boston Go Pass was only good for three days, but Saturday would be our fourth day). We started out a bit later than the other days, and after a Bruegger’s bagel, we went to go catch the trolley. They were stopped at a light in between two stops but the driver/guide let us on anyway. We rode the tour all the way around the city and the guide explained the various sites.

The guide was really good, he was a true Bostonian (his accent was very heavy, I think it would have been hard to understand him if you were a non-native English speaker). He was an iron worker during the week and did tours on the weekend. He also builds sets for movies filmed in Boston. He had a minuscule part in some movie where he played a warehouse owner.

He was a really good guide and very engaging. He asked us where we were from and when we told him “Denver” he said “if I’d know that, I’d’a run ya over with the trolley let alone let ya on!” joking of course about the fact that Boston is the home of the New England Patriots, losers of the 2016 AFC Championship.

We rode the bus all the way around the circuit and he showed us a bunch of the main sites. Here are a few of the interesting things we saw:

• The Bunker Hill Monument. The Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought on Breeds Hill, but for some reason, it’s called the Battle of Bunker Hill after a hill right next to Breeds Hill. Although we lost the Battle of Bunker Hill, it was a moral victory for the patriots. The colonists fortified Breeds Hill and the British attempted to take the hill. The colonists, with limited ammunition, repelled the first two attacks. On the third charge, the patriots ran out of ammunition and withdrew from the hill therefore loosing the battle in purely military terms. The reason it was a moral victory was that the colonists, a ragtag group of rebels, lost about 400 men whereas the British lost something like 1400.

• The park that Make Way for Ducklings is based on is in Boston. We went past that park and saw the pond that was the duck’s home.

• We went past the USS Constitution, nicknamed Old Ironsides. This boat saw action in the War of 1812 and was dubbed Old Ironsides by the British because their cannonballs bounced off the side of the boat.

After riding the bus all the way around the circuit, we got of and went back to the hotel to get ready to check out and go to the boat.

Getting On the Boat

To get to the boat, we took the subway and then transferred to a bus. It was pretty easy to get to the terminal. After going through all the normal security, we got on board and put our stuff down in our room.

While we waited for the fire drill, I swam a little bit in the pool (the water is really warm). After the drill, I explored the ship for a while and then went back to our cabin to get ready for dinner.

We had dinner with a couple and two women travelling together. The two women had been friends since high school. One of the ladies dominated the conversation (she had something to say about everything). I guess that’s pretty impressive since she knew of someone who did whatever the conversation was about at the moment.

After dinner I went up to the ping-pong table and bounced the ball some hoping someone would come over to play. A guy named Mike showed up and we played a couple games. He won unfortunately. So sad. They were pretty close games though. I then talked with his dad and sister (she graduated as well). Anyway, I decided to try and catch up on my blog so I don’t have to deal with it much tomorrow.

We are at sea all day tomorrow, so there probably won’t be as much to write about.